The Rose in the River
by OncomingBadWolf
Summary: The Doctor meets River for the first time, and finds out something incredible... -- A Tenth Doctor and River Song one shot, with TenRose if you squint. --


**The Rose in the River **

_**I own nothing you recognise. ** _

_**AN: Dunno where this idea came from. Just popped in my head. If you're a 10/Rose fan chances are you won't like it very much at the beginning, but read until the end. That's when it gets interesting. A oneshot.** _

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Was this it? Would this be the dreaded time when this body would leave him for new DNA? Would he feel the pain of death once more, along with the change in his appearance? A new person again? He really hoped not, it had taken him enough time to get used to the amazing amount of hair he had without having it taken away. He liked the way he looked now.

The slit, red eyes and long, thin tongue leaned down on the Doctor. He was pushed against a tree. Great, he thought. Now what?

Suddenly there was the sound of a gunshot and snake creature in front of him fell forward at his feet, clearly dead. And behind stood a woman, gun pointed in front.

The Doctor stared. There she was. That woman. The same woman from that library he and Donna had visited. The woman who had known his name. The woman who he had, apparently, given his screwdriver to. The woman who knew so much about him was standing there in front of him… pointing a gun to his head. River Song.

She stared at him for several moments, mouth slightly open.

The Doctor, too, opened and closed his mouth a few times. He appeared to have lost the power of speech. "Um, D – doctor. I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor… but wha- ?" she was lowered her gun and was interrupted suddenly by the sound of a deadly hissing noise as the dead alien's friend came to take a look at what all the fuss was about. It rose up above them, twice as big as both. River pointed her gun to its head, about to fire.

"No!" yelled the Doctor. "Just run!" he grabbed her hand and together they ran through the forest, the snake just behind – gaining on them.

Running through a wild insect infested jungle from a giant snake like alien wasn't exactly the best of times for a friendly get-to-know-you session, so it was no surprise when River told the Doctor to button it when he asked where she was from.

"In here!" yelled River.

She pointed to a near by cavern at the foot of a cliff and pushed the Doctor inside, quickly following and pushing a large rocklike boulder to cover the exit. She put a finger to her lips and pressed an ear to the exit. But she appeared to hear nothing and gave a sigh of relief, before turning to the Doctor and staring.

The Doctor wondered if she had already met him. She seemed to be staring at him like she knew him. He cleared his throat. "Well, that was a relief. But of course I had that totally under control."

River raised her eyebrows, "Right. You know, you shouldn't be here? This planet's suppose to be inhabitable by anyone other than the insects and Slitherns – that's those friendly creatures you just met."

"Yeah, well, rules don't usually bother me too much."

The woman smiled, almost as if she knew what he was talking about. "Any particular reason you're here Doctor?"

"Oh, just sight seeing," he assured her, sitting down on the hard, damp ground. "I was doing okay though, you know, you just caught me at a bad time."

"Looked like you about to die to me," said River. Then she shrugged, "Still wouldn't be the first time. Though I'm sure you wouldn't want to change again."

The Doctor looked at her with a frown. She knew about regeneration? How much else did this one know about him? Had they met before? He hadn't had a chance to check the year… the TARDIS had simply brought him to this place. But if they had met, then why wasn't she saying so?

He shook his head, "You know, _River_ -"

"What?" she stared at him. "River?"

The Doctor looked up, the name had slipped from his mouth before he could stop it. Now what? "Yes, your name. You, uh, mentioned it earlier."

She looked away, staring around the cavern with a look of wonder on her face. "Did I?" She smiled slightly. "River. River… Song?" she looked at the Doctor, and it almost seemed like she was looking for confirmation that that was indeed her name.

He nodded, "Yes."

She nodded and turned away, "Do you think the Slithern's gone?" He didn't answer and she turned to face him. "Hell, I could have shot it. It would've meant we weren't stuck in here, why'd you stop me?"

"Because you didn't need to," the Doctor replied sternly.

She stared at him steadily, before giving a wry smile, "I'd forgotten."

"Forgotten what?"

She looked at him, "Just you… how much you were like me… when I was younger – much younger."

The Doctor stared at her, "Have we met before…? I mean, have you met me before?"

She laughed, "You have no idea." She shook her head. "Each life… is harder than the last… but at least it makes you harder against it."

"What -?"

"I'm going further in," she announced, interrupting him. "Stay here."

She dropped her coat next to the Doctor and went further into the dimly lit cave. The Doctor had half a mind to go on in after her, but then he noticed something that had fallen from her jacket pocket. A small, black book. It was frail, and looked old. Very old. He hesitated for a second then shrugged, and curiosity got the better of him.

He picked it up. On the front cover read the words '_Life in a journal'_ .

He smiled and opened up the first page. He read the first line, but could not get any further than that. His hearts both missed several beats, and his insides twined.

The first sentence scrawled in the book screamed out to him.

'_My name is Rose Tyler._ '

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**_Alright, I realise that dosesn't make much sense -_ **

**-MUCH sense??-**

_**- BUT** **, you can think what you like of it really. ** _

_**It was inspired by the anagram: Riv ER SO ng –** **– Riv ROSE ng…** _

_**Don't ask…** _

**_Anyway, it was a oneshot and I probably won't make it into anything more because I don't like writing River for some reason, even if this story is mostly unexplained… and probably goes against some things said in Silence of the Library ect (I haven't watched it in a while), but Just guess! _ **

_**You know, maybe… if there's enough interest… Review!! And you get free cookies! Shows choco chip cookies** _


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